Just wanted to let everyone know that Machado black belt David Meyer will be holding a seminar the weekend of Nov. 13th at Lancaster Family Martial Arts in Lancaster, PA (www.lfmac.com). We're still nailing down the exact time because Dave has just returned from New Orleans where he worked with the Save a Pet foundation to feed, rescue, and transport hundreds of abandoned animals due to Hurricane Katrina (a BJJ black belt and an animal lover!)

There will be a 1 hour kids seminar (ages 5-9) for $30 and a three hour adult seminar for $50. Exact times to be determined.

Mr. Meyer will also be available for private lessons which need to be arranged ahead of time -- please contact either me or www.lfmac.com to set up a private lesson.

We're trying to start a grappling program at LFMAC (due to the lack of BJJ schools in the York/Lancaster, PA area) with Dave's help so we hope to have a good turnout for the seminar and to generate interest for a BJJ class in the near future. My instructor Mike Weisensee (a 3rd degree bb in hapkido under Master Geoff Booth, a 4th degree bb in TKD, and a certified instructor in krav maga and FIGHT) is hoping to get certified to teach the first 2/3 of the BJJ blue belt curriculum under Dave Meyer's program so we can start a grappling program at LFMAC. Please contact me or the school (www.lfmac.com) for more information. Hope to see you there!Todd

A couple of things to keep in mind Fletch1:Dave Meyer and John Will's "Masterclass Grappling Curriculum" is designed to help schools with no access to local BJJ/grappling instructors to integrate a grappling curriculum at their school. My instructor and I realize that we (esp. me!) aren't qualified to rank anyone else in BJJ because we're not even blue belts ourselves.

What we can do is use the Masterclass Grappling Curriculum to help other students work towards their blue belts under Dave Meyer. Mr. Meyer does all the evaluations and belt testing during his seminar visits to our school which should take place 2-3 times a year. Part of the Masterclass Curriculum is to work toward your blue belt and another "track" is to work toward your instructor certification--my instructor and I are doing both. To be "certified" as an instructor means that you understand the details of the techniques and can effectively demonstrate them to your students, it doesn't mean you are an accomplished competitive grappler.

Believe me, my instructor and I are in no way trying to claim that we're experienced grapplers. We would LOVE to have a belted BJJ instructor come teach classes at our school (I have a post on this forum begging someone to come help us out) but we REALLY want to start learning to grapple and to eventually start a grappling program at LFMAC. Notice I said "eventually": we know we're not ready yet and what we're planning on doing initially is just having a small group of interested people get together 2-3 times a week to train BJJ.

I note the skeptical tone in your last post and I understand it. Once again, we're not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. If you want to read more about the Instructor Certification portion of Dave Meyer and John Will's "Masterclass Grappling Curriculum" check out the website: www.grappling.us.

Note also that my instructor and I have already paid for the Masterclass Curriculum materials and we aren't asking anyone at our school for money to train with us; we're just trying to generate interest. We just want to learn and freely and openly admit that we are beginners too. And, once again, if you know any BJJ blue belts or above in the York, PA area PLEASE send them our way!

There is a good school in Berks County, PA and we've had a purple belt from their school conduct some seminars but he's a Police Detective and doesn't have time to teach regular classes at our school.

So, forgive me if I'm overreacting, but cut us a little slack, we don't have access to a BJJ school close enough that we can train regularly, so we're doing the best we can with what we've got.

I should add too that when I initially talked to David Meyer about his program he was adamant that his program was in no way a substitute for working with a good BJJ instructor and rolling with skilled grapplers, i.e., people who can routinely beat you. And, he said if we happened to find a good BJJ instructor in the area and wanted to start training with them that he encouraged us to do so. His and John Will's program, as I said, is meant to offer a method for training grappling where no qualified instructor is available. As one of our hapkido students joked, "oh, you're getting your blue belts by correspondence course!" Well, yeah, but until something better comes along we have to do what we have to do!

I should have qualified my inquiry so that you would not have read that I had a "tone". I was just curious as to what the actual parameters and limitations were for your program.

I am painfully aware of what is like to have no access to a qualified coach or instructor in BJJ. I trained for a while driving 200 miles round trip just to work with a Blue Belt when I started. Finally, I found a Black Belt on the other side of my state that was a 250 mile round trip. I trained once a week like that for 3+ years.

I had "garage training" partners but nothing consistent until a few years ago. As a Blue Belt, I inherited a class that was started by a visiting Black Belt and I kept it going after he left. A few years ago, he came back and found that I was still at it and had my own students, some that drove an hour just to train with me. He promoted me to Purple based not just on my "Wizardry" on the mat (HA!), but my ability to teach and coach.

The reason I tell this story is that I know where you are coming from. I just never had a "curriculum" given to me from a distance instructor, to teach to my group. I started out as a senior student who "led" the class in the absence of an instructor and eventually became the "instructor".

I continue my training with my coach and friend, Luis Gutierrez. It is long distance however, so most of my work is with my students, some of whom I have had my instructors promote to Blue based on my observations.

Great post Fletch, thanks very much. Sorry if I overreacted but it sounds like you feel my pain. I had just gotten into BJJ in Seattle about 8 months ago when my wife and I moved to York, PA for her job and it's been very frustrating trying to find a good BJJ school in the area. Fortunately, I found Mike Weisensee's school in Lancaster which teaches hapkido, FIGHT, and used to teach krav maga. And Mike is eager to learn grappling so he can include it in his school's curriculum but, of course, he wants to make sure he's competent in the basics of grappling before "inflicting" it on his students!

Dave Meyer and John Will's program is a great guide and, most importantly, David is availble to answer questions via phone and e-mail and is incredibly generous when it comes to giving seminars--he makes it essentially risk-free for small schools like ours who might otherwise have to shell out big bucks to get a phenomenal instructor like him to give a seminar.

I just talked to David today and will be posting the final dates and times for the seminar in a forthcoming post.

Gi is optional. Seminar will focus on fundamental principles and techniques of grappling such as defense, controlling from the top, correct positions and transitions, and finishing. The class will likely be split into two parts--the first focusing on defensive techniques and positions and the second on offensive techniques (finishes) and positions.

If anyone is interested in private lessons with Mr. Meyer, please PM me to arrange.

Hey Todd, David Meyers is also my Instructor's BJJ teacher. David will be here in Edmonton, Alberta on Sunday, October 30, 2005 and will be staying with my Instructor's partner and best friend. Our class time with him will be 3 hours (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm) and then afterwards we can roll with him should we choose to do so. There will only be 24 of us in this class, 12 from our school and 12 from my Instructor's partner's schools. The cost was $50 and I know it will be worth it.

Our school does already incorporate grappling (JJJ/BJJ/Hapkido) and this will only add to what we already do. Several times a year my Instructor and his partner will go to San Francisco to train at the Machado gym and others.

Have fun at the seminar. I know you will. I attended one of David Meyer and John Will's seminars in Seattle and they were great, and it's a pleasure to be able to work with David through his masterclass program (I know I must sound like a commercial but I'm just happy that my hapkido instructor and I are able to train grappling in a city that doesn't have a good BJJ school nearby.) Cheers.Todd